Shoe



March 30, 1943. -r. o. JQHNSEN SHOE Filed Dec. 11, 1940 Patented Mar. 30, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE , Thomas 0. Johnson, Tacoma, Wash.

Application December 11, 1940, Serial No. 369,676

1 Claim.

This invention relates to shoes and more particularly to high laced shoes of the moccasin type, having a bellows tongue secured by three seam edges to form in effect a water-proof boot.

In shoes of the bellows tongue type as heretofore known it has been customary to extend the vamp up over a substantial part of the instep and secure the lower edge of the tongue to this upper edge of the vamp, the vamp serving to protect the instep from the strain of the lacing. The stiffness of the vamp, however, together with the fact that the lines of lacing eyelets terminate short of the toe portion of the shoe prevented the drawing of the sides of the quarter closely together to secure a variable width fit with respect to the foot, necessary to enable the shoe to fit properly whether or not heavy socks are worn.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a shoe of the moccasin type which retains all of the desirable features of the bellows tongue, protects the instep from the lacings and at the same time permits drawing the sides of the shoe together through a substantial linear extent to insure close engagement and the snug fit with the foot.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a moccasin type shoe with bellows tongue in which the lines of lacing eyelets extend down into the toe portion of the shoe Where their lower portions are encompassed by the relatively stiff moccasin seam, the latter acting to distribute linearly the pressure transmitted by the lacings, so that by the tightening of the lacings, the width of the shoe can be narrowed in its forward portion throughout a substantial linear extent.

The invention consists in the novel construe tion, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Figure l is a perspective view of the improved shoe; and

Figure 2 is a transverse cross section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

In accordance with the present invention the quarter I is preferably cut to extend forward almost to the toe of the shoe, and is secured by lines of stitching 4 to the bellows tongue 3 which, in the specific embodiment shown, extends downwardly under the tongue piece 5. The tongue piece 5 is provided with an upwardly extending narrow finger 6, the side edges of which are spaced from the side edges of the tongue 3 thus providing marginal portions 1 of the relatively thin and pliable tongue leather intermediate the lines of lacing eyelets Ill and the finger 6. The lower edges of the bellows type 3 and tongue piece 5 are incorporated in the forward portion of the moccasin seam, which unites the narrow vamp with the upper portions of the shoe. The forward portion of the vamp is convex, as shown in the drawing and as is conventional in moccasin type shoes. When the lacing is tightened it will be apparent that these flexible marginal portions 1 of the tongue will adjust themselves to the instep of the foot, while the relatively stiff finger 6 of the tongue piece will protect the instep from the pressure of the lacings. By extending the finger 6 well up over the instep this heavier leather of the tongue piece will take the heavier wear encountered in walking through brambles and the like, and will be held in close fitting engagement with the instep, but by reason of its narrow width will adjust itself readily to the foot. y

The lines of lacing eyelets extend into the toe portion of the shoe. When the lacing in the lower eyelets is tightened the lateral constriction of the shoe thereby produced is distributed linearly by the adjacent portions of the inherently relatively stiff seam, resulting in a narrowing of the width dimension of the shoe throughout a substantial linear extent, so that the Width of the shoe may be adjusted to snugly fit the foot whether or not thick socks be worn.

Having thus fully described my invention I claim:

Shoe of the conventional moccasin type including a convex member surrounding at least the toe portion of the shoe, a tongue piece and quarters, said convex member being joined to said quarters and tongue piece by a relatively stiff U-shaped seam, a relatively flexible bellows tongue extending beneath said tongue piece, stitched to the base of said tongue piece at said seam and stitched on each side to the quarters back of the adjacent edges of said quarters defining free marginal portions of said quarters and extending down to said seam into the toe portion of said shoe, lines of lacing eyelets along said marginal portion extending into said toe portion, said tongue piece having a narrow finger extending upward centrally of the bellows tongue and secured thereto with its side edges spaced from the quarters, the intervening space being bridged by lateral portions of the bellows tongue, forming flexible gussets.

THOMAS O. J QHNSEN. 

